Tuesday, July 12, 2016

The Geekcap: 12 Monkeys "Blood Washed Away"

In January 1957, Cole and Cassie put together everything they know about the paradox. Since the paradox occurs on November 7th, they have about eleven months to locate the primary at the Maxwell Rigfield factory or at the very least stop the messenger. To achieve that, they both get jobs at the factory to sift through the more than 200 workers to find who could be a messenger or a primary. In eleven months, both Cole and Cassie find a suspect in a doodling employee and a forceful executive. However, Cole confronts the employee who reveals to only be doodling women instead of monkeys while Cassie, on a date with the executive, finds that he is only a pervert. With every worker narrowed down, they find that they have no suspects with only two days before the paradox.

With the limited amount of time left, Cole and Cassie argue over whether or not the employees were checked carefully. Cassie questions Cole’s judgement with the employees while Cole fires back that she may be enjoying her position too well, especially since she cannot recognize if any of them looked like one of the messengers. Cassie tells him to stop saying something he may regret. Cole, to his part, leaves before he can finish.

Cole makes his way to the bar where he finds a fellow co-worker named Charlie. Charlie admits that his wife asked him to leave her alone for a while after a day of chemotherapy. Her hair has already begun to fall out, and Charlie implies that her time is not looking well. Meanwhile, he only believes that Cole is paranoid about one of the co-workers being a commie. He suggests Cole go back to Cassie, though Cole insists that their relationship is not like that. Nevertheless, Charlie tells him that there is no point in stopping from being together. From his own experience with his wife, he informs Cole that the first thing he would want is more time together.

Cole: There's never enough time.

Cole then returns to the hotel room while Cassie is on the phone. She informs him that after taking part in the company’s party line, she’s learned that the drainage system is in need of repairs. In order to do that, they will be hiring day workers over the next few days, one of which could be their primary. After informing him, Cassie then apologizes for their tension over the past few months. While she has hoped that Ramse would come through for them by finding Titan and killing the Witness, it’s too late to hope in that now. With two days left, they have no time.

In 2044, Ramse, Whitley, Deacon, and the Daughters take part in a gun war against a group of shooters. Chaos breaks out as one of the Daughters takes a bullet to protect Jennifer and slowly dies. Jennifer cradles her body and murmurs musings to the woman as the fight continues. After a bloody battle, most of the shooters, as well as a few Daughters, are dead. Ramse confronts one of the shooters who is a member of a group called the Bleeders, scavengers who shoot and eat anyone who comes their way. Ramse interrogates the man on Titan, which should be located only thirty miles west of their location. The man reveals that they sent a scout over in that direction, but he never returned. With no more information, Ramse kills the man as the Daughters regroup. The Daughters’ lieutenant tries to move Jennifer, but Jennifer is still shocked that one of them had died for her. Whitley ascertains that they have a day before the red storm catches up with them, but Ramse is determined to continue without rest. Descon comes to lead out the Duaghters, though many of them are distrustful of him. Jennifer rebukes the women for being shifty towards Deacon, but the lieutenant responds that, unlike their old mother, this Jennifer spouts nonsense.


At night, the group pools their resources. Despite coming across the Bleeders, they have little food to survive. In the distance, a horse arrives with Hannah returning from the scout mission. Unfortunately, she reveals that Titan was not there. With their mission coming to a dead end, the Daughters begin to rebel against the men since they have already lost two of their own. Ramse fires back that they would have nowhere else to go with the storm at their heels and calls for Jennifer to control the women. However, the lieutenant denounces Jennifer as their leader and challenges Ramse to a fight. The two struggle against one another until Ramse finally gets the upper hand. Before he slits her throat, Jennifer intercedes, begging him to stop killing. The Daughters take her lead by acknowledging that the lieutenant chose to fight. Ramse, for his part, spares her life.

In 1957, an executive goes over the day workers for the drainage system. From there, Cole notices one of them, a man named Reginald Dupuy, muttering to himself. Cole convinces the executive to let him supervise the workers while claiming that he knows Dupuy to throw suspicion away from Charlie. Before he goes to the roof, however, Cole informs Cassie that he may have found the primary in Dupuy. Cassie advises him to do what he has to in order to prevent the paradox. On the roof, Cole talks with Dupuy. Meanwhile, Cassie searches through files in order to learn about Dupuy. The pervert executive confronts her on taking files, leading Cassie to secretly smuggle Dupuy’s file. Cole further presses Dupuy on his knowledge on primaries, paradoxes, red forests, monkeys, or time. At first, Dupuy seems to respond to time but instead states it is time for him to go.

At the hotel, Cole confirms to Cassie that he believes that Dupuy is a primary. Cassie reveals that behind Dupuy’s file is a drawing of a monkey. He is the primary.

As the storm approaches closer, Ramse and Whitley go over their map once again, finding the coordinates to Titan. Although Hannah states that she saw nothing, Ramse and Whitley believe that there was a chance that she took a wrong path with a faulty tracking system. Now they have a clear destination. Jennifer, however, argues for Hannah to stay out of the journey after the previous deaths. Hannah states that she wants to follow her advice, but Jennifer rebukes her own leadership, revealing her words of wisdom are only phrases from fortune cookies. She admits that she has none of the experience of her older self, and, after seeing this group, she’s not sure if she wants that leadership. With that in mind, however, she can’t let the Daughters die for her decision. Hannah nevertheless rejects the offer, stating that she had taught them to be willing to give their lives for each other. Now, she will do the same for the group.

Jennifer: Spoiler alert! I'm not wise old me, am I? And if I'm being frank, my daughters are assholes! Knife fights, ridiculous eye shadow, and serious, serious mommy issues.

In 1957, Cole and Cassie then return the factory on the day of the paradox to find Reginald. Despite Cassie’s concern, Cole insists that he can handle this situation and will return to the hotel if things go south. Cole leads the man away from the factory down an alley at gunpoint to ensure the people’s safety while Cassie remains in the office. At that time, though, a woman walks into the factory carrying a box and a gun. The news reaches the office, leading Cassie to take her own gun to confront what she believes could be the messenger.

Cole confronts Reginald revealing that he is aware of him being a primary. In the factory, Cassie confronts the woman, asking what she wants. The woman replies that she wants to see her husband. Reginald then admits to Cole that took money from a man to react to Cole, leading Cole to realize that the messenger is someone in the factory.

At the factory, the woman’s husband arrives to find her: Charlie. Charlie reveals that he is one of the messengers while his wife Melinda was one of the primaries. Although Charlie was sent to paradox Melinda, he found that he had fallen in love with her, leaving him conflicted whether to kill her. He also reveals that he had killed the fellow messenger who traveled with him, admitting that not everything the Witness said was true. Inside the box turns out to be the bone of the primary, ready to cause the paradox. His wife reaffirms him that she knows today is the day that she will die and reassures him that they will meet each other again in the red forest. Cole arrives to see Charlie, but Charlie tells Cole that he of all people would understand. Charlie stabs his wife, causing the massive paradox.

Ramse, Deacon, Adler, and Hannah walk through the woods following the coordinates to Titan. After a decent time of walking, they see the outline of a city on the horizon, something that wasn’t there earlier: Titan.


In 1957, doctors look over Cassie in a hospital. After nineteen days, she has still not awoken from her coma, and they are unsure if she will wake up at all. When the doctors leave, Cole, who now sports a broken arm, approaches the bed and speaks to Cassie. Though he knows she can’t hear him, he apologizes for the pain he has put her through and being unable to stop the paradox. He tells her that the best thing she can do now is wake up and forget she knew him. He softly kisses her on the forehead and then leaves her.

Cassie, in her coma, dreams about the house in the red forest. She suddenly wakes up in the hospital as the doctors tend to her. They inform her that they doubted she would wake up, but she instead asks about Cole. They tell her that they haven’t treated anyone from the explosion in six months, and it is now 1958.

Cassie returns to the hotel to find the room completely cleared of anything from Cole. She is now completely alone. With no other plans, Cassie returns to the medical field and, in six months, is in the process of completing course to re-earn her doctorate. Although she is only referred to as a nurse, doctors continually come to her for advice with advance knowledge of certain cases such as “Lyme disease.”

In 1959, Cassie continues to make her life while still musing on Cole’s whereabouts to the point of looking back when a man orders a whiskey sour. Once she returns to her room, however, a bellboy informs her that he has located an address for the name that she had given him: Morris Morrison. He is located on 10 Old Pines Road in Binghamton, New York which is a driving distance away from the hotel. Once she arrives at that address, though, she is shocked to see the same house of cedar and pine from her dream.

Cole is in the back of the house sawing pieces of wood before accidently sawing part of his finger, leading to drops of blood landing on the grass. Cassie finally confronts him on where he’s been as she notices his wound. He admits that he found this place with a for sale sign while driving around one day. Now she can be safe from the plague and any red forests. Cassie remarks that they can’t run away from the future, but Cole responds that there isn’t anything else they can do. She just believes that means he was afraid. Suddenly, it begins to rain, another event that triggers Cassie’s memory of the cabin. Regardless, she leads him inside to treat his wound.

Cassie washes the blood off his hand and begins to wander around the cabin. She then recognizes the main room and grandfather clock from being taken over by the Witness. She informs Cole that the Army of the Twelve Monkeys as well as the Witness were aware of this place and this moment.
The group then enters Titan, each one on edge expecting someone to emerge. As they keep walking, old-fashioned music begins playing in the distance. Against better judgement, Ramse leads the group in the direction of the music. Through that direction, they find a circle of symbols surrounding a figure. That figure is the Witness.

Cassie: You coward, you know that's not why you left me. You left me because you're in love with me. I've always known, Cole.

Cole reiterates to Cassie that she can be free now, but Cassie reminds him that she is still meant to die at the CDC in 2018. Cole tells her to forget about that destiny since he would rather choose to have hope in Ramse than attach to an already failed plan. She insists on leaving, but he admits that the reason he left in the first place was to protect her. Cassie fires back that she knows why he did it: he is in love with her. She has known for some time. He tells her that now, with no backup plan and no primaries, she has nothing left to lose. Cassie then finally consummates her relationship with Cole by kissing him which leads to them having sex in the bedroom.


At Titan, the group is then surrounded by guards for the Witness who wield katar blades. Each one stabs Ramse, Whitley, Hannah, and Ramse as the Witness survives.

Notes from 2044

  • The cabin is revealed to be owned by Cole, but the Witness also wrote of the cabin "This Was Home 1957-1959."
  • Cole also used the name Morris Morrison in "Lullaby."
  • Katar blades originated in India and are traditionally used in worship ceremonies. Could there be more to the group's deaths?
  • What were the symbols that surrounded the Witness?

1 comment:

  1. While this episode seems to want to seduce you into thinking Cole is the Witness (because of "This Was Home 1957-1959"), everyone keeps referring to Titan as somewhere the Witness feels safe. This makes me think it can't be the adult members of Team Splinter because if they in the future become the Witness they would know that Team Splinter is on to Titan. So, maybe the Witness is Sam who involuntarily splintered pre-Titan info rolling in? Could someone have lived in the pine house in two different timelines at the same time?

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